Is it possible?

It really depends on a lot of factors. If you have a lot of connections, then sure, you can make it. I've met several people who have no reason for getting the jobs that they got, it was all about connections. That's just the way things roll sometimes. But since you wrote that question, I'm going to assume that you don't have any strong connections, like the most of us.

Another thing is, what do you consider the business world? Are you classifying all of corporate America or are you really speaking about Wall Street. My good friend graduated from a non-target school and ended up taking a non-paid job with a tiny place in NYC. He said it as just like "Boiler Room". He ended up getting in contact with a headhunter that liked him and helped get him into a very well respected hedge fund. He's been there a year now and all his hard work has really made him excel. He's well over the 6 figure salary.

I come from a non-target school and ended up getting into a leadership program with a major energy company. None of my luck came from connections. This all about rolling up the sleeves and working hard. But before you can get the opportunity to work hard, you have to prepare yourself. "Luck is when Opportunity meets preparation". If you get the opportunity and you aren't ready, you are going to lose. You have to work hard to prepare yourself.

When I was in school I looked around and honestly asked myself, "what makes me different than everyone else?" "why should a company hire me, over my peers?" If you don't have a good answer for these questions, then, that's where you start.

Not to belittle you, your accomplishments, or your GPA. But there are tons of business students from non-target schools with “decent GPAs”. That’s how businesses see it. (I only say this because I’m part of the recruiting team for my alma mater at my company). I see hundreds of resumes.

One thing that helped me out, granted I didn’t get to IB like I wanted, was all the preparation that I did outside the classroom. When it’s all said and done, everyone graduates with generally the same degree, with decent grades, etc. You have to invest time outside the classroom to make yourself better than your competition. Not just your competition at your school, but also at other schools. I asked around to find out what tools everyone was using. I learned those tools as best as I could. Became extremely efficient in Excel, VBA, Bloomberg Certified (and instructed it at school), took a train to Bloomberg Headquarters on my own time and dime to learn the program, learned Factset, CapIQ, Matlab, Studied CFA books, read the WSJ, FT, Gartman, followed the markets, listed to conference calls, took notes, wrote stock analysis reports, organized stock analysis competitions, Read tons of books, watched IPO roadshows, read their red herrings, read tons of financial statements, studied industry reports. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

However, that wasn’t enough for me to break into IB. Maybe I messed up somewhere. Maybe I lacked the connections, never found out, never even got looked at. However, that preparation helped to not only land me my current job, but also helped me be very competitive at it. Now I help structure energy deals across the US and Canada valued in the 100’s of millions of dollars. Not IB, but it’s a step closer (actually, a lot of the deals I help structure have me work with IB’ers, but I sit on the buy side of the table).

So, as a long winded answer, where do you want to go and what is your plan to get there? Always ask yourself, What have I done “today” to prepare myself?

I really hope this helps you. I wish someone would have told me this when I was a freshmen in college. I didn't get started till my junior year.